Ghetsis the Fan
by Creative Curve
Summary: 2016 Christmas Horror Special. Four years after Touko's victory over Team Plasma, she returns to spend the Christmas Holiday with her family and two friends in a rented cabin up north. But they all notice a mysterious N leaving an old cabin and they soon become curious. So curious in fact that they get themselves in a serious predicament.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

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I missed my home so much. It felt great to finally be back in Unova after four years of being away, traveling the world. And what makes it even better is that fact that it's the holidays! This time of year always means family, friends, and free time! It's also extremely special to me at this moment in time because I haven't seen my family since the last time I was here in Unova four years ago.

Today I arrived at a cabin up north near Dragonspiral Tower with my mother, my uncle Larry, and my two best friends Bianca and Cheren. We planned to spend the long Christmas weekend in a rented cabin this year. I'm so excited.

The only downside to this holiday vacation was the fact that we all left our Pokemon behind. I didn't want to do it, but I knew it was for the best. The Pokemon were being well taken care of by several of Cheren's assistants back at his lab. And we all agreed to do this because this was going to be _our_ weekend, a weekend to relax and enjoy ourselves.

But I don't know how I truly felt about it. It was all my mother's idea. I had a feeling I was going to be lonely without them, especially Chikorita. Oh well. It was just for three days.

The vacation cabins in the area were very nice. Most of them were new and some were newly renovated. All except one, I noticed, and it was a little too close to our cabin.

"Hey Touko, could you give me a hand?" It was my uncle Larry, who spoke, my mom's brother. We had just arrived at our cabin and I needed to help unload the cars. But the drab, run down cabin nearby was distracting me.

"Sorry," I muttered as I arrived at uncle Larry's side, taking my bag and a few other smaller ones from the van.

"There is plenty of time to admire the landscape this weekend," Larry confirmed. "I know it's only three days, but the sooner we get this stuff unloaded and unpacked, the sooner I can have a beer!" Larry continued excitedly. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Larry had to have his beer, no matter what. He wasn't an alcoholic, but he loved them on the weekends, and especially holiday vacations.

"Eww," Larry muttered as we reached the porch of our five-bedroom log cabin. I turned to him. He was looking behind us at the eye sore of a cabin, lifting up his ball cap and adjusting his glasses.

"Gross cabin, huh?" I asked. It certainly was lived in, or had been lived in, at least. There was junk stored in moldy old boxes all around the side of the structure. There were also five full trashcans in the back. For such a small cabin, who needs five trashcans? The once brown logs on the cabin's side were turning black with what was probably mold or mildew, giving it a more dingy look. It definitely lacked a lot of upkeep.

"Yeah, Touko, what an eye sore! Looks like I'll be chill'in and grill'in on the back balcony," Larry replied, adjusting his ball cap again. "Brr, I should have brought my toboggan instead."

I laughed at my favorite uncle before heading inside. Mom had already unlocked the door for the first time and headed in.

The cabin was breath taking! We definitely landed one of the newer models. The glossy wooden floors, ceiling, and walls glistened and reflected the lights of the Christmas tree brilliantly. The furniture was also made of a light tan wood with dark green cushions.

"Isn't it stunning? I haven't been in such a nice cabin in all my life!" Mom said happily as she unloaded some of the snacks she brought in the very spacious kitchen that combined perfectly with the living and dinning room.

Uncle Larry dropped the bags right by the door and headed over to the sliding doors that lead to the balcony. "And check out the grill!" He said before heading outside. "Perfect for chill'in and grill'in. And when I say chill'in, I mean the freezing aspect of it all." Mom and I both laughed at him. Normally what he meant by "chill'in" was the relaxation aspect of it.

"What if a serial killer lives in there?" I could hear Bianca's voice outside by the van. And then shortly after her question, Cheren shushed her.

"Everyone can hear you! And quite possibly the man or woman living in there!" Cheren's voice was no lower than hers to begin with.

I turned quickly and headed back out the front door. "SHHH," I shushed loudly, giggling to myself at how we were all taking what was supposed to be a quiet observation and making it very loud. Cheren laughed. Bianca scowled.

I skipped down the porch stairs to help my friends unload their bags. I was grateful they were spending Christmas with me. They chose to because I had been gone for so long and they missed me. So they decided to celebrate Christmas with their families the day after the holiday.

"If not a serial killer, then a very poor soul that is indeed a hoarder," Bianca said under her breath.

"Shh!" Cheren shushed again. He was now doing this to agitate his new girl friend of two months. Bianca rolled her eyes and shushed him back.

I was glad they finally got together. It took years for it to happen. Bianca always had a crush on him, but Cheren always wanted to get his career in order before committing to any kind of relationship with anyone. And now he is a gym leader and researcher, and Bianca is his assistant. She used to be Juniper's, but she quit as soon as the position came open for Cheren.

All five of use eventually made it inside the cabin and made ourselves at home in our rooms. It was late evening on the 23rd of December before everyone was settled and ready for dinner. Mom brought some basic spaghetti and sauce for dinner to tide us over until she could make it to the store the next day. Her and Bianca soon started cooking, although I couldn't see why it took two people to make a simple spaghetti and sauce. I wanted to help but they insisted I take it easy.

"I want a lot of butter in mine then. Can I put it in?" I asked, smiling.

"No!" Bianca exclaimed. "You relax! You're the Hero!"

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the magazine I was skimming over while I sat on the couch. Being the Hero of Unova had its perks. Everyone wanted to do everything for me and pay for my meals and drinks everywhere I went. But I vowed not to let it go to my head. I wanted to help out around the house and pay for my own stuff, but people just wouldn't have it.

My picture skimming was interrupted by a faint tapping noise. I looked and saw a bundled up uncle Larry outside on the balcony, tapping on the door and waving at me to come outside and join him. Once I stood up he also pointed to his beer bottle and pointed to the fridge in the kitchen.

I slid back into my black coat, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and headed outside to join Larry.

"That beer is for you." Larry whispered as I tried to hand him the bottle.

I sighed and sat the beer down on the small wooden table. "You know I don't drink anymore, Larry," I reminded him in a normal tone of voice.

"Shh!" was his first response. I became taken aback. Why were we supposed to be whispering? "One every now and then doesn't hurt," Larry continued on in a whisper, "You're on vacation. Anyway, come look."

I followed my uncle to the far end of the balcony, and he tilted his head in the direction of the run down cabin. I looked in its direction. It was still the same old piece of garbage it was twenty minutes ago.

"What about it?" I whispered my question.

"I just saw N walk out of it!" Larry whispered excitedly.

This couldn't be. N was long gone. After his father, Ghetsis, tried to take over the Unova region twice, he had had enough and left on his own accord. He had no reason to be back in the region. He was done with his father, and I knew his father was done as well. Done with his motives to rule the world, that is.

And if it was N, why would he be in the region? To visit his father, possibly? The authorities never captured Ghetsis, and many believed he still roamed the region freely with the help of his faithful Shadow Triad ninjas. But N should know better than to interact with him. It could get him in some deep trouble.

"You can't be serious," I responded to uncle Larry in a hushed and anxious tone. "N is gone."

"I saw the ponytail and the green hair," Larry continued, talking with his hands excitedly and shaking up his beer unknowingly. "And he wore the same khaki pants he used to always wear. He also had a Pokemon with him. An Emolga. He was whispering to it and it sounded like they were carrying on a conversation! You said N could talk to Pokemon, right?" Larry's words became even more rushed and excited. He knew what he saw to be true, but I didn't want to believe it.

"Okay. Why would he be living in that old nasty cabin?" I asked, trying to get to the bottom of his reasoning.

"People change, Touko. Maybe he's a slob now. Maybe he owns that small cabin somehow and now he's broke. Maybe. . ."

Suddenly the sliding doors opened in a rush, and Cheren came bounding out onto the balcony without a jacket. "Hey guys! You're never going to believe this! Shit, it's cold out here!" Cheren whispered excitedly. He shuffled over to us, his arms wrapped around him as he started shivering. "I was up in my room getting settled, and I just happened to look out the window and saw N!"

"Okay!" I say, rather loudly this time. "This has got to be someone else."

"SHH!" They both shush me in unison.

"You guys are being ridiculous right now," I say in the same tone, only to be shushed again.

"Touko, I'm not crazy!" Larry starts again in a very confident whisper. "Even Cheren has seen him."

Cheren nods his head at me vigorously, his teeth chattering slightly. "Touko I know N! I've dealt with him just as much as you have, and definitely more than uncle Larry and even _he_ is saying it was N."

I threw my hands up in defeat. "Okay. Say it was N. What should we do?"

Cheren came at me with an instant, "Spy on him!" and Larry quickly agreed.

I sighed. "Okay, but why? He's technically innocent according to Unovian Law. . ."

"He could have ties to Ghetsis," Larry whispered urgently. "And Ghetsis is still on the run. What if Ghetsis is in that cabin too?"

I opened my mouth but no words came out. That was a chilling thought having Ghetsis several hundred yards away. And that same thought brought back bad memories. I continued to stand there, open mouthed. If I did have something to say, it didn't matter as Cheren quickly chimed in.

"After dinner I'm going back up to my room, shutting all the lights off, and peeking out the window until I get too tired to do so, and then I will let you know when it is your turn," Cheren said looking at Larry.

"Wait, what about me?" I ask, giving in to the spying idea. "I can sit in the living room by the window and pretend that I'm reading something, but in reality, I'll be looking through the blinds at the house."

"No, no." Larry said. "I'll do that. They have plenty of newspapers here that I can engulf myself with. Touko you take it easy after dinner."

I felt defeated. I wanted to help and they weren't going to let me. But then I still doubted it was N in the first place. But what if it was, and why were we spying on him? Because Larry made a good point: it was possible that N could be conversing with his father, the real criminal.

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 _A/N:This is going to be a four chapter long story. I'm going to try to finish it by Christmas, but no promises. And if you all want me to continue it, I will need some serious love. Like it, love it, or hate it, leave a review!_

 _I just decided to write this story for the sake of getting my writing back up to par. I hope you enjoy it._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

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I woke up feeling well rested on Christmas Eve morning. I couldn't say the same for my uncle Larry and Cheren, however. They stayed up late into the night, peeking out random windows in hopes of spotting N returning to the old run down cabin. I assumed they had no luck as they never came barging into my room ecstatic about anything they saw.

But Bianca sure did barge into my room, ecstatic about what she saw. "Touko! You're never going to believe this! I just saw N!" Bianca exclaimed. She was on the verge of tears it seemed.

This wasn't a good thing. Bianca wasn't supposed to be in on the spying game, but yet here she was with her accidental results. She would only complicate things if N truly was living right next door. Why? Because we want to confront him, and she would just get in the way and try to prevent it.

I raised my eyebrows at Bianca and became slightly open mouthed. I wanted to look as surprised as possible. "Wow. Wait, wha?"

"And I swear I saw Ghetsis too!" Bianca continued on.

My stomach churned in what felt like fear. Yes, it had to be fear. Or was it just simple anxiety? Because now there is a possibility the real criminal is right next door as well.

"Bianca, are you sure?" I said in a hurry. I couldn't wait to hear what Larry and Cheren had to say about this. They would flip out at Bianca's Ghetsis sighting. Especially if they truly did stay up all night peeking restlessly out windows with no luck.

"Yes!" Bianca continued on. "He has the same build and is the same height. His hair is all chopped off though, and it looks gray. But he was wearing a black eye patch, and that is a dead giveaway, right?"

She was right. The eye patch _is_ a dead giveaway. And the fact that N was present is an even greater one. I shot out of bed and hurriedly got dressed, even with Bianca still in the room. It didn't bother me none, I was in a hurry to wake Larry and Cheren up.

"What were they doing exactly?" I quizzed as I pulled on my black leggings.

"Talking it looked like. N was talking to the man that I know was Ghetsis while he smoked a nasty cigarette." Bianca made a gagging sound, signifying that she thought cigarettes were absolutely disgusting. She did the same thing to me a few years back when I smoked on occasion. I shrugged my shoulders at her.

"So N smokes? Maybe I'll go over there and bum one off of him," I said kiddingly. Bianca didn't find that funny.

"No, idiot! The older man was the one smoking and I wouldn't allow you to do that anyway!"

I cringed. Nope. I wouldn't dare head over there and ask Ghetsis for a cig.

"I say we spy on the cabin!" Bianca suggested, in a more hushed and excited tone this time. I raised my eyebrows at her. She must have been more adventurous than I thought. I was surprised. I wondered if she would be up for going over there later tonight and peeking through the windows.

So I decided to test her.

"Yes, we should!" I said in agreement. "We should go over to that cabin tonight and –"

"NOOO!" Bianca growled in a low, anxious tone. "Touko, what are you thinking!? I mean spy on them through the windows. You know, with binoculars or something."

I rolled my eyes. Of course she would suggest what we have already tried. Little did she know she had amazing spying results compared to Larry and Cheren and myself. But she wasn't willing to pull out the big guns. Speaking of guns, I wished we had some on hand in our Pokemon's place. For protection, of course.

"I'm telling Cheren. I want his take on all of this," Bianca said as she rushed out my bedroom door. I shook my head. Judging by Bianca's reaction, the rest of us were going to have to spy on N, and possibly Ghetsis, in secret. But how? Bianca and my mom were always around, and if they found out, they would flip their shit.

I headed down the stairs shortly after Bianca rushed out of my room. I could smell the heavenly scent of eggs, bacon, and pancakes coming from the kitchen. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Larry at the bar feeding his face. It didn't look like he lost a minute of sleep. Bianca and Cheren were talking in hushed tones on the far end of the bar, obviously discussing what Bianca saw.

"So how'd everything go?" I asked Larry, smiling sarcastically.

He shook his head as he stared into his scrambled eggs. "I fell asleep ten minutes in," he responded as he slowly turned to me. He shrugged. "Too many beers." I laughed lightly to myself and turned to the chair by the window where he supposedly sat. It did look more comfortable than the other furniture. It _was_ a recliner after all. I couldn't blame him.

"Cheren couldn't stay awake either. At least he stayed up till 4AM," Larry continued. I looked up at the clock above the shiny black stove. It was 9AM. So Cheren got some sleep, at least.

"Eggs? Touko?" My mother asked, handing me a paper plate loaded with scrambled eggs.

"Please! Thanks, mom!" I said, happily taking the plate of delicious protein.

"Bacon?" she offered another plate. I took it graciously and thanked her again.

"Supposedly Bianca saw N this morning," I whispered to Larry as I sat down beside him. He about choked and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Well she had more luck than us and she wasn't even in on it!" Larry shook his head, wiped his hands on his red and green Christmas tree pajamas legs and started to sip his coffee.

"And she saw Ghetsis . . ."

Larry snorted French vanilla coffee all over his plate and on the table.

"Larry!" My mother exclaimed loudly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, Sarah. It just went down the wrong hole is all," Larry responded after coughing several times. My mother shook her head sympathetically, threw him another napkin, and turned her back to us to start cleaning up.

 _"What?"_ Larry asked in a whisper.

"Yeah," I proclaimed again. "She saw –"

"Ghetsis," Cheren cut me off as he strolled over with Bianca in toe.

"I say we spy on the cabin!" Bianca said excitedly in a whisper.

Larry, Cheren, and myself looked at each other and nodded our heads. Maybe if all four of us spied all day long, we would finally find something worth calling the police over. But it would also make for an extremely long day.

And an extremely long day it was. Bianca ended up not spying at all. She got bored with it the first thirty minutes. Her boredom was a good thing because she kept my mom occupied. But then again, my mom also asked me to play a few board games with her and Bianca, so I couldn't spy for too long. And Cheren's spying post was constantly interrupted by Bianca as she demanded his attention. He reminded her several times that he was spying and how it was all her idea. Bianca eventually said that what she saw wasn't true, and that it was probably someone else.

I can't believe she doubted herself so fast. And it didn't help that she was the only one that saw Ghetsis in the first place.

So Larry was the only one that could spy on the neighboring cabin. But he fell asleep several times in the same recliner he sat in the night before. So by the end of the afternoon, virtually no spying was accomplished because I had to occupy my mother, Cheren had to occupy Bianca, Larry kept sleeping, and Bianca gave up on the whole idea a long time ago.

It wasn't until Bianca went with my mother to get groceries for Christmas dinner did the three of us get together again to discuss what the next game plan was.

"It's pointless spying through the blinds of our cabin," Cheren started off saying. "The only time we can see anything is when someone comes and goes, plus the windows to that cabin look like they are draped with heavy curtains. You simply can't see inside, _especially_ at night."

"And we can't just neglect Bianca and Sarah by staring out windows all day long either," added uncle Larry. "This is our Christmas holiday. We are expected to spend time with each other, not spying on the neighbors."

I agreed. "So what do we do?" I asked. I was anxious to see N again. I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to know what he was doing with his time since our last encounter. But most of all, I wanted to know what he was doing in that cabin.

We all stood silently in the large living room for a moment, giving each other questionable sideways glances, until my anxious curiosity couldn't take it any longer.

"I say we go over there and at least try to see through the windows!" I blurted out.

"I second that." I looked to uncle Larry and grinned. I was glad he was so quick to agree. He never was a cautious adult, and I didn't mind that one bit. It was Cheren that I was worried about next.

Cheren had a worried expression on his face. And then he looked down to the hardwood floor, deep in thought. Seconds later he looked up to us all and said, "We will have to go over there when the other two are asleep. If Bianca finds out, she will freak."

We all agreed.

I couldn't believe we were being so reckless. But it was so exciting. We weren't doing anything bad at all. We were just peeking in windows. And it wouldn't take very long.

We all had to know what N was doing, and Ghetsis too.

I had butterflies in my stomach the rest of the night as I anxiously awaited our expedition outside into the unknown. It was only a matter of time before my mother and Bianca went to bed.

* * *

 _A/N: Merry Christmas! I am going to try to do a double upload today for this story. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Sorry for the late upload guys. This was supposed to be done a little after Christmas. But then it was Christmas that got in the way. Busy lifestyle, you know? One more chapter after this and then I may or may not continue it. Enjoy!_

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Chapter Three

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I went to bed early at around eleven o'clock. I retired before everyone else because I felt sick to my stomach. My nervous anxiety was getting to me.

I laid on my back in bed, still as death and staring into the darkness. I kept thinking about what we would find. Thinking about who we would find. And thinking about why on earth were we doing this. We could get into so much trouble as we were technically breaking the law by spying through someone's windows. And we could get into trouble with Ghetsis as well. I wondered how powerful he currently was and what sort of resources he had.

There was no telling what Ghetsis and N had up their sleeves. The only thing we could do at the moment was snoop. And if I could bring Ghetsis to justice, by Arceus we would snoop for sure.

I heard a light knock on my door and then someone entered. It was uncle Larry. He flipped the light switch on, and then rushed to my bedside. I shielded my eyes with my hands as the light temporarily blinded me.

"Okay!" he started in a whisper. I squinted up to him through my fingers, painfully waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light. "I just saw three men of equal height leave the cabin. They were dressed in all black and had white, long hair. Wouldn't that be the Shadow Triad?"

My heart jumped. And so did I; right out of bed. "When did you see this?" I whispered back, blinking my eyes.

"Just now as I looked out the living room window!" Larry started talking with his hands again, becoming anxious. "Everyone has gone to bed. Bianca and Sarah I mean. Cheren just came down after wishing Bianca a good night's sleep. I told him –"

Larry stopped talking abruptly and started pacing my room. I watched my uncle for a few moments before interrogating him about what Cheren could have possibly said. But he answered before I could speak.

"Cheren seems discouraged now. He says the Shadow Triad are very dangerous men."

And Cheren wasn't lying. They were dangerous men, and if all this was real, we would be committing suicide by going over to that cabin. I didn't want to believe Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad was real. If it was, we should have called the police. But we had to know for sure. We had to know if Ghetsis was truly next door.

I found it funny, however, that everyone has seen something suspicious except myself and my mother. But mom was too worried about making the vacation pleasant for everyone to notice some outlaws being harbored next door.

"How are we going to do this?" It was Cheren speaking from the doorway of my room. He had a worried expression on his face. I answered his question with a shrug. I truly didn't know how we were going to do this if the Shadow Triad were going to be involved. We didn't even have any Pokémon to defend us.

"Maybe we can spy through our windows again," suggested uncle Larry. He continued to pace my room, stopping briefly to look out my window. That wasn't doing him any good as my room was on the opposite side of our cabin and didn't face the target at all.

I rose to my feet and strolled over to get my snow boots. I was finished debating the situation. Larry probably saw three other neighbors strolling through the neighborhood. They couldn't have been the Shadow Triad. I had to find out what was going on next door, and I wasn't going to let them hold me back.

"I'm going with or without you all," I stated as I slipped on my boots one foot at a time.

"Now hold on. Let's think this through," Larry tried to suggest, but I left my room without another word.

I skipped down the stairs to the dimly lit living room and found my coat. I felt as if I was rushing things as I slowly draped the fuzzy warm coat around me and zipped it up. I struggled as I tried to tuck my long brown hair under my hood

I kept telling myself that I wasn't rushing anything. I was just going to stroll over to the cabin casually and peek through a few windows. If I saw Ghetsis, I would call the cops. It was actually quite simple.

"Touko, don't!" Cheren growled through gritted teeth as he reached the bottom of the stairs. I could barely read his face in the semi darkness. I didn't care how he felt or what he thought.

"I can go by myself!" I growled back. "I'm just looking through the windows. That's all I'm doing! Nothing more! It's not going to be dangerous."

By the time Larry found his way down the dark stairs, Cheren and I both had our coats on, ready to go outside into the fresh falling snow. Cheren didn't ask to come along, and he didn't challenge me further. He just put his coat on and joined me. I wasn't objecting his company. Truth be told I needed the extra help.

"So it's happening then?" Larry whispered as Cheren and I walked out the back balcony.

"Let's give Larry a minute. He may follow. One more isn't going to hurt anything," Cheren stated in a low tone. I nodded. "We are just looking through windows . . . correct?" I nodded again. "Okay, I can live with that."

Seconds later Larry was outside with us. "I brought a butcher knife. It's in my pocket," he said nervously.

Cheren and I both looked at each other questionably. "Why?" Cheren asked.

Larry huffed and puffed. "Are you serious? Why?" Larry's voice was getting louder. "If this truly is the –"

"SHHH!" Cheren and I shush Larry in unison.

"Okay! We get it!" Cheren assured Larry. "Protection! Even though we are just going to look through windows."

"You can never be too sure," Larry said as he took a sip of beer.

"Beer!?" Cheren exclaimed.

"Chill! It's the first one of the night for me and I'm nervous! Give me a break!" Larry's voice was getting loud again. I shut my eyes tight and put my hands over my ears nervously. Larry should have stayed behind. But I didn't have the heart to say it.

"And besides, if Ghetsis shows up, I can bash him over the head with the bottle," Larry said, his voice finally had a good point. Bottles over heads surely hurt.

"Let's go! I want this over with!" Cheren whispered as he headed toward the balcony stairs.

The snow was starting to accumulate fast, making our dark figures stick out more distinctly in the night. And it didn't help that we all had dark colored jackets.

We could see the dingy cabin only yards away as we traveled silently along the tree line behind it. I made the first move and started for the side of the cabin. There were two windows on that side. Larry was behind me. If he could give me a boost, I could look in and hopefully see through a crack in the curtain.

"LARRY! IS THAT YOU?"

I fell to the ground, picked myself back up and rushed past Larry. I heard Larry stumble behind me and eventually follow suit. Cheren started running back towards the woods and Larry and I were soon on his heels.

"What the fuck?!" I hiss before I slip in the snow again. "Shit!"

"Larry!?"

It was a man's voice coming from up the road, and it was very, very loud. And it sounded rather familiar.

"Wait, is that?" Larry said as he stood on his tip toes, looking up the hill. "It is! It's –"

"Fucking Joe!" I snarled. "Are you fucking serious?" I could feel my knees giving out so I saved them the trouble and fell to the ground anyway.

"Language Touko!" Cheren scolded. "Seriously?"

"I don't care! He scared the shit out of me and he about blew our cover!" I growled at Cheren.

Joe came bounding toward us through the snow. Although bounding wasn't the word for it. More like, waddling very fast as he tried his best to move his heavy set body at a moderate pace. I rolled my eyes as he drew closer. Like it didn't look suspicious that this big guy was walking on the snow covered road and then suddenly decides to cut through a few properties and move toward the woods.

"What are you all doing out here? Hey Touko!" Joe said happily, and very loudly.

"Shh!" Uncle Larry and I shushed him together. "Not so loud," Larry continued. "What on earth are you doing out here? Where did you come from?"

Joe checked the phone that he had in his hand before answering. "My wife and kids and I have been vacationing up here for a week. We are leaving tomorrow after Christmas. I saw you guys arrive here yesterday." I was thankful his voice had lowered significantly. "Are you all staying a week too, or leaving after Christmas?"

We all looked at each other before Larry answered him. I couldn't believe we were outside at 12AM on Christmas morning, trying to spy on N and Ghetsis while having a casual conversation with Joe, Larry's friend. What a way to start off the holiday.

"Listen Joe, you shouldn't be here," Larry tried to reason with him.

"Hey, who's that?" Joe asked, pointing at Cheren. I face Palmed. Why don't we just add introductions in as well.

"That's Cheren. He is Touko's friend. Listen, Joe. Why are you out here?" Larry continued on.

"I'm looking for a Peekie!" Joe exclaimed. His voice started getting loud again.

"Shush, dude!" I growled, my voice getting louder as well. "A what?!"

"Chill Touko. Come on," Joe said raising up his phone to show me the screen. "There is a Peekie on the nearby. . ."

"Pokemon GO?!" I growled. I couldn't believe it. Joe was a nice guy and all but he was also one of the goofiest alive. And at this moment in time, I did not need anyone goofy in my path. We had a mission to accomplish, and it was slightly illegal, and Joe was slowly ruining everything.

Larry half laughed at Joe. "What on earth is a Peekie Pokemon?" Larry asked, sipping the beer he brought along for the ride and looking at us with a smile on his face.

"It's what I call the little pikachu's with Santa hats on. I haven't caught one yet and I got so excited when I saw one on the tracker that I had to come outside to look for it." Joe looked back down at his phone. I could see his eyes grow sad under his toboggan as he gazed at the screen. "Aww, it's gone now."

"That tracker is forever broken. So unreliable. I stopped playing ages ago because of it," Cheren casually said.

I could not believe we were out here having a casual conversation about Pokemon GO. I stood up and brushed myself free of snow. I had to put an end to this little get-together.

"Listen," I began, "We really need to –"

"Spy on N? Is that why you all were sneaking around that cabin?" It was like Joe read my mind.

"You've seen N?" I asked.

"Yeah," Joe answered, matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes. Everyone had seen N but me! Even Joe! This was getting ridiculous.

"I've seen him come and go from that cabin every day since I've been here the past week. And I've even seen his Reshiram fly over several times too." Joe shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. He put his phone away in an outside pocket of his heavy jacket and in turn pulled out a chocolate bar. He tore into it and started eating.

"Joe, why didn't you call the police?" Larry asked after he took another sip of his beer.

"N hasn't done anything wrong has he? I thought he was innocent," Joe answered with a mouthful of chocolate.

Larry appeared taken aback. "True," he continued. "But have you seen an older man by chance? A man wearing an eye patch?" His voice became very low.

"I've seen a man like that once." Everyone's eyes including mine widened at Joe's words. "But I don't know who that is. So of course I didn't call the cops."

So of course Joe doesn't call the cops because odds are he doesn't even know what Ghetsis looks like because he doesn't follow the news. Now it is definitely up to us to get to the bottom of what's going on with the man and boy that apparently live in the run down old cabin.

"So is that what you guys are doing?" Joe asks.

All three of us looked at each other questionably. We didn't know how to answer him. And it didn't help that he literally caught us red handed. Larry shrugged and admitted to Joe our plan.

Joe immediately wanted to join our ranks, and we had no other choice but to let him. We were all already outside in the cold snowy dark just yards away from our target. It would have been pointless and a waste of time to tell Joe to leave and then have to fight his bullshit protests.

"Okay you can come with us," I started. "But you have to –"

"STFU!" Larry whispered as he moved toward the cabin again.

"What does STFU mean?" Joe asked in a normal tone of voice.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I whispered while cupping my mouth with my hands as if I were actually screaming.

"Whatever! I'll be quiet," Joe said, finally in the first whisper he'd mustered all night.

We resumed our expedition. Larry was leading. Cheren was second, I was third, and Joe was bringing up the rear with his rather loud footsteps. The snow was getting thicker upon the ground thus causing our foot falls to be much louder than they were before.

We finally reach the side of the cabin we initially targeted before Joe called us from afar. The cabin remained pitch black with not a single sign of light or life inside.

Cheren checked the window to the right and I checked the one to the left. I wasn't tall enough to see over the ledge, but thankfully Larry gave me a boost. I was lucky enough to pick the window with no curtains, but I could barely see anything inside. Larry sat me down and took a turn looking in the same window.

"I think it might be a kitchen," he whispered.

"Oh shit, you can see inside?" Joe whispered excitedly, and quite loudly.

"Shhh!" I was getting really tired of shushing Joe. Our operation could have been finished moments ago if he hadn't of showed up.

"Sorry again, Touko," Joe apologized. I felt bad instantly. Joe really knew how to make someone feel bad for anything with the pathetic tone of voice he manages every time he gets in trouble. It almost makes him seem like a small child.

"Boost me back up again, Larry. Please?" I asked urgently. Larry let me step on his cupped hands as I took another look. I could see a faint white tiled floor, barely illuminated by the outside snow fall. Larry was right. It could very easily be the kitchen. Then, I tried something against our own rules. I tried the window.

"It's fucking open!" I exclaimed in a quiet whisper. The window slid up easier than I expected, making an awful scratching sound. "Shit!" I said loudly before I fell to the hard, snowy earth. Half of me landed on uncle Larry.

"What the fuck!?" Joe yelled.

"Oh my Arceus! Please be quiet!" Cheren pleaded with Joe.

"Why do you have another beer in your jacket pocket, Larry?" I asked in surprise. It hurt a muscle in my back as I landed directly on it. Larry's jacket wasn't much to cushion the impact. In fact I was surprised I didn't land on the butcher knife!

"Shhhhhhhhhhh!" Larry's shush was louder than my voice.

"Haha! You know Larry, Touko," Joe said. I wanted to punch Joe in his stupid fat, bearded face.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Cheren started scolding us all. "The Arceus damned window is open!"

Larry and I scrambled to our feet and hurried to place our backs against the cabin's side. Cheren followed suit, but Joe remained standing in the snow, opening up a piece of peanut butter chocolate.

"Get over here!" Larry whispered, anxiously waving him over with his beer laden hand.

"Stop that, you'll make your beer go flat Larry."

"Shhhhh!" All three of us shushed him. Joe rolled his eyes.

"In case you have forgotten, we are trying to spy, and in order to do that, we must be quiet," Larry explained to Joe.

"I know, I'm sorry," Joe whispered, finally. "OW!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!" I exclaimed in the loudest whisper possible after throwing a decent sized snow ball in Joe's face.

"Stop, please!" Cheren continued to plead. His eyes were becoming desperate and he was becoming highly stressed. I could sense it in his voice.

"Gosh Touko, what was that for?" Joe complained as he brushed snow out of his short beard and toboggan.

"For being so damn loud," I growled at him. "You shouldn't even be here!"

"Just chill out," Larry said as he stepped between us. "No more games. Joe, we've got to take this seriously." Joe nodded to uncle Larry in silent agreement. "And that goes for you too, Touko. No more snow balls." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going in," I whispered casually, and I quickly started for the window.

"What?" Cheren quickly became a nervous wreck. "What are you thinking?" He was about on the verge of tears.

I placed both hands on the base of the open window and prepared to jump. I didn't care what they thought. I knew how to handle Ghetsis if I encountered him. I've done it before. I bounced on my heels several times before hopping into the window halfway. I squirmed a little to gain some more leverage, and then I found myself toppling into the kitchen and falling into a bunch of trash and making a loud ruckus.

"This isn't a good idea guys!" Joe said loudly. I could hear him fiddling with the wrapper of another piece of candy. This man was a nervous eater for sure.

"Where's my damn candy, Joe!" I growled as I struggled to get up, kicking cans and trash around as I did so.

I jumped when Larry jumped in through the window, wiggling his body through just like I did. He didn't fall though, because I was there to help him. And then we both helped Cheren as he managed to climb through the window and join us.

"This is a bad idea," Cheren offered as we helped him stand upright.

"Well, we are here now. So . . . now what?" I asked. The apparent kitchen we were standing in was pitch black. The entire cabin was pitch black. One of us would have to use a cell phone light if we were to navigate through the cabin successfully.

"Joe, you stay out there," Cheren whispered to Joe. "Keep watch." Joe nodded in silent agreement. I could see the worry in his face and it reflected how I truly felt about what we were about to do.

In spite of my fear, I couldn't help myself, however. "Of course he's staying out there. He's bigger than the window, Cheren," I whispered.

"Shhh!" It was uncle Larry this time. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flash light. "You all ready?"


End file.
